Family empowerment project
Education, nutrition and counselling for 81 children and young people in Beni, north east Congo. September 2018 - February 2019
Sister Mary Thairu reports:
" First, we wish to express our gratitude for the help you continue to extend towards our needy children and young people in our context here in Africa and Beni, the DRC, in particular.
In September 2018 we received the money totalling US$ 11,926 for the academic year 2018-2019. This money was purposely for school fees, food and scholastic materials. At first, we were worried that our money will be lost, since the schools closed two weeks after we had paid, owing to the outbreak of Ebola and later the violence and kidnapping of some young people. This situation lasted for three and a half months until January. When the schools re-opened, I checked to see what would happen, since the children did not study during their first term, and I am happy that they have extended the term to cover what they missed.
This academic year, we have the total of 81 children included in the project, of whom 39 are from the first group beginning in 2017, and 42 are from the new group beginning in 2018. Of these students, 17 are in secondary school and two of them will sit for their final exams this year, as they are in secondary level six. We have bought school materials, uniforms for two children, who according to school rules had to have uniforms provided by the school, and food. Since the schools were closed from the third week of September until the second week of January, we could not give food to all the children, since our aim was to feed them during school time, so that they can concentrate in classes. However, we did give food to three families who could hardly afford anything.
During the holidays, we started by visiting the homes where the children stay. From those we had identified at the beginning, we found that one girl had gone missing, and her parents and elder brother had been killed, and another one had got married, so we have offered their places to other children. There are still some children who have not yet reported to school, since they were displaced, but we are still hopeful that they will eventually come back slowly by slowly.
CHALLENGES
The main challenge we have faced has been the outbreak of Ebola which broke out during holiday time. When the schools opened, many children could not report to school due to fear of being affected.
Since the schools were closed for quite a long time, extra time has been given for classes and a new timetable has been set for exams. At present, we are still in the first term and the exams will take place in mid-March. For now, I cannot tell much about their performance, until they do their exams. The children are happy, and I am happy that they are showing interest in their studies. We had only one case of a girl of 12 years old, who never showed any interest in her studies. She would miss classes all the time and we tried to give follow up and even accompany her, but it was all in vain, so we had to remove her from the project and replace her with another child.
This is all I can share with you for the time being. I will share more in my next report. We are so grateful to the General Council for being so sympathetic to these children and young people by agreeing to support the second group which is a little bit bigger than the first one. We appreciate this so much and we continue to promise them we will never let them down in our commitment in working with these children.
Due to the situation of extreme poverty in the area, we have found that for some families, providing food once or twice a week is not yet enough. I feel that, according to the experience I have gained, it would be good to start a small profit-gaining business with the guardians, so that they can be more self-reliant."
" First, we wish to express our gratitude for the help you continue to extend towards our needy children and young people in our context here in Africa and Beni, the DRC, in particular.
In September 2018 we received the money totalling US$ 11,926 for the academic year 2018-2019. This money was purposely for school fees, food and scholastic materials. At first, we were worried that our money will be lost, since the schools closed two weeks after we had paid, owing to the outbreak of Ebola and later the violence and kidnapping of some young people. This situation lasted for three and a half months until January. When the schools re-opened, I checked to see what would happen, since the children did not study during their first term, and I am happy that they have extended the term to cover what they missed.
This academic year, we have the total of 81 children included in the project, of whom 39 are from the first group beginning in 2017, and 42 are from the new group beginning in 2018. Of these students, 17 are in secondary school and two of them will sit for their final exams this year, as they are in secondary level six. We have bought school materials, uniforms for two children, who according to school rules had to have uniforms provided by the school, and food. Since the schools were closed from the third week of September until the second week of January, we could not give food to all the children, since our aim was to feed them during school time, so that they can concentrate in classes. However, we did give food to three families who could hardly afford anything.
During the holidays, we started by visiting the homes where the children stay. From those we had identified at the beginning, we found that one girl had gone missing, and her parents and elder brother had been killed, and another one had got married, so we have offered their places to other children. There are still some children who have not yet reported to school, since they were displaced, but we are still hopeful that they will eventually come back slowly by slowly.
CHALLENGES
The main challenge we have faced has been the outbreak of Ebola which broke out during holiday time. When the schools opened, many children could not report to school due to fear of being affected.
- The security issue is still a threat. Still in September, there were some children who were kidnapped. There were killings being reported here and there, so the schools had to close especially those in the Ruwenzori community, which was especially affected by the killings. Due to this situation, the schools were closed, and unknown people would throw stones at the teachers.
- Political instability also was another threat; the period of elections till the inauguration of the new president was stressful. There was fear that the situation might not move on peacefully, but we thank God there was no major problem reported.
- The number of children in the project has increased, so it requires a lot of commitment to follow all of them. The schools are far apart, so it is not easy, but we are trying our best to see that we visit every child. So far, I have visited almost all the children at their homes and schools on two occasions, apart from those who are in a more affected area.
Since the schools were closed for quite a long time, extra time has been given for classes and a new timetable has been set for exams. At present, we are still in the first term and the exams will take place in mid-March. For now, I cannot tell much about their performance, until they do their exams. The children are happy, and I am happy that they are showing interest in their studies. We had only one case of a girl of 12 years old, who never showed any interest in her studies. She would miss classes all the time and we tried to give follow up and even accompany her, but it was all in vain, so we had to remove her from the project and replace her with another child.
This is all I can share with you for the time being. I will share more in my next report. We are so grateful to the General Council for being so sympathetic to these children and young people by agreeing to support the second group which is a little bit bigger than the first one. We appreciate this so much and we continue to promise them we will never let them down in our commitment in working with these children.
Due to the situation of extreme poverty in the area, we have found that for some families, providing food once or twice a week is not yet enough. I feel that, according to the experience I have gained, it would be good to start a small profit-gaining business with the guardians, so that they can be more self-reliant."